March 15

TheRestofUs.org Files Suit To Stop Illegal Fundraising by Governor Schwarzenegger and His Citizens to Save California Committee

TheRestofUs.org filed a civil suit in Sacramento County Superior Court today seeking to stop the illegal fundraising and coordination by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his various committees. The so-called Citizens to Save California (CSC), a committee created and staffed by Schwarzenegger operatives to pursue the Governor's ballot agenda, has violated the limit on candidate-controlled committees with at least nineteen donations.

"Governor Schwarzenegger is breaking the law in an attempt to unduly influence the California initiative process with fat cat cash and he needs to be stopped now," said Derek Cressman, Director of TheRestofUs.org.

TheRestofUs.org filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) against the Governor and Citizens to Save California on February 7, 2005, alleging the same violation of California law. To date, the FPPC has not even sought injunctive relief against the governor and the committee. "Given the FPPC's glacial pace, our only option is to ask the court to enforce the law," said Ned Wigglesworth, an analyst for TheRestofUs.org.

The day after TheRestofus.org filed with the FPPC, Citizens to Save California sued to overturn the very law that the committee and the governor are violating. "The Governor's lawyers opposed this rule when it was passed and they're now opposing it in court. But it's the law of the land and nobody is above the law, not even the Governator," added Cressman.

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TheRestofUs.org is a nonpartisan political watchdog dedicated to alerting citizens to the problems of big money in politics.